Prices over on the beef side of the cattle world are sizzling and may not be quite done yet, which is tasty news for dairy producers.
Live cattle futures prices, which have the most relevance to cull milk cows, are up by more than 10 percent since June from levels that many longtime cattlemen never dreamed of seeing during their lives.
Prices have jumped sharply since mid-September, into the low $1.30s per pound, but beef market analysts think there is another nickel or more of gains yet to come this year.
That's because beef supplies are forecast to decline 5 percent more this year as the nation's beef herd continues to shrink. Wholesale beef prices also continue to move higher, adding more value to every animal that dairy producers decide to send down the road.
Cattlemen are cautiously awaiting release of USDA's government shutdown-delayed Cattle on Feed report that will be released October 31. It had originally been scheduled for release October 18, and those 13 extra days of waiting and wondering don't come easily for a business that is as voracious for data as the beef industry is.
